PrimeSense — the company that built the Kinect's 3D sensor — has unveiled its latest sensor, which is nearly as small as a stick of chewing gum.

Called Capri, the sensor has been shrunk quite significantly — down to one-tenth of the size of the sensor used in the Kinect, a size that PrimeSense hopes will be useable in smartphones and tablets.

The company said in a blog post:

The technology breakthrough is that we have been able to improve on all aspects of the system, while substantially reducing the overall size. The size we had in mind is such that it can be integrated in today's small consumer devices, such as tablets and smartphones.

Features will include:

Field of view 57.5×45

Range 0.8m to 3.5m

VGA depth map (640×480)

USB2.0 powered

Standard off-the-shelf components

OpenNI compliant

According to IEEE, it probably won't work quite as well as the Kinect sensor because the company has left out the RGB camera — a feature that would add unnecessary cost and complexity to the device.

But this is just the next step towards a 3D-sensing future. As well as applications in robotics, PrimeSense eventually hopes to be able to include its technology in any number of devices — from kitchen appliances to cars.